The article you reference linking Omega 6/Omega 3 ratios with depression and inflammation was very interesting.

I’m concerned about the high level of Omega 6 fatty acids in the beef I buy (which I’m quite sure has never seen a blade of grass in its life.) In addition to supplementing with krill and fish oil, do you recommend lowering beef intake in favor of fatty fish like salmon?

Hi John–

The omega-6 in lot-fed beef is a little higher than that in grass fed, but I don’t believe that beef is the source of most of the omega-6 fat we eat. Beef–grass-fed and/or lot-fad doesn’t contain a lot of long-chain polyunsaturated fat, so you don’t get enough to worry about.  Most omega-6 fat comes from vegetable oils that seem to be in everything.  I’m not a big fan of eating a lot of salmon, which I do love the taste of, because of the mercury and other contaminants.

What seems to be important is the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3, so if you work to avoid vegetable oils and take fish oil and/or krill oil, you should keep your ratios where they ought to be. 

Cheers–

MRE 

Stress reduction is never a bad thing, no matter what the underlying condition. 

Apparently a lot of people think so. 

MRE 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article1680380.ece

Hi Simon–

I read this article when it came out in the Times but haven’t read the BMJ article yet.

Here’s the paragraph from the article, though, that says it all.

The actual numbers of heart attacks and strokes are small — 76 heart attacks, 19 strokes and 23 heart deaths without previous warning — in both TOPH 1 and 2. So it remains possible that chance, or incomplete follow-up, have distorted the findings.

I wonder how many farmers reading this article will remove the salt licks from their farms?

My own opinion is that most of us probably don’t get enough of the right kind of salt.  I’ll post on it in the future. 

Cheers–

MRE 

Wife’s BP stayed high for a month or so after dropping birth control. Then she quit the job. And week by week, she’s come down to normotensive. New doctor, new appointment next week, but I’m guessing she’s not gonna get the BC back, because that was clearly the problem. No the job, not the constant cortisol bombardment.

Damn consensus opinions.

Hi Max–

Have her start taking (if she’s not already) 500 or so mg of chelated magnesium daily at bedtime.  Should help her pressure even more.

I wouldn’t think the new doctor would balk at giving her a BC Rx if her pressure is okay without drugs when checked at his/her office.  Speaking of which, if it’s a he, you might want to try a her the next time if you don’t get the Rx.

Good luck.

MRE 

Hi Pete–

I read Sapolsky’s book (and listened to his tapes from the Learning Company) years ago.  It is an excellent book, and I highly recommend it.

Cheers–

MRE 

Have you seen the “bad fat brothers” yet? http://www.badfatsbrothers.com/BFB.html

Hi Cindy–

No, I haven’t seen the Bad Fat Brothers yet.  What a farce.  I think I will post on it.

Thanks for sending.

MRE 

I also tried to ferret out what (if any) relationship exists between omega-3/omega-6 fatty acids and HPA axis stimulation. I came up with very little, though clearly the stress response invokes an inflammatory response (e.g. increase in clotting factors), so omega-6-based prostaglandins get in the game at some point. But does a surplus of omega-6 itself constitute “stress” in the sense of leading to a corresponding surplus of stress hormones?

Hi Dave–

I’m working up a post on this very subject right now. It should be up in a day or two.

Yes, omega-6 cause stress in the sense of increasing stress hormones and cytokines. Here is a recent paper on the subject.

Cheers–

MRE

Useless drivel, eh. There’s one for the Department of Redundancy Department.

I’ve been a fan of Helnwein since I saw a show of his in Vienna 25 years ago.

Cheers–

MRE 

We need appropriate stress like we need to exercise our muscles. And then some rest too.

Professor Mario Kyriazis, medical adviser to the British Longevity Society, explains: “If you want to live a long and healthy life, quite the worst thing you can do is to avoid stress to either mind or body. Ageing is due to the loss of complexity in our system, and the way to boost complexity is to challenge the system. If you want to live long and healthily, don’t settle into routines.”

Exactly on the money.  Stress is like a lot of things: a little of the right kind is good; a lot is very bad.

Cheers–

MRE